Lessons from the Hardest Goodbye

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I got ‘the call’ that no one wants to get. The call that a beloved person in your life will not be long on this earth, it was regarding my almost 96-year-old Mom.

A loved one being ill is pretty much the only reason I would get a plane to go to the COVID hotspot of North America.

After dusting off my bedside nursing skills, I was privileged to be able to care for my spectacular Mom, Liliana Scarnati, during her last week of life. The experience was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time and in this video I share a few lessons that I hope will inspire you, as they did me. Included is a song I wrote after her passing and the final love letter from Vic.

Loss and grief are inevitable – but perhaps they are the price of love.

“When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”  But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”   Khalil Gibran

As the circle of life continues, yesterday – 11 days after my Mom passed – this little lady, Adeline Liliana Rose Staples, joined our family bringing joy back into our hearts!

I wish you ease and self-compassion with whatever journey you are on this week, Steph